An excellent idea for anyone looking to create an Internet sensation: put a microphone in front Bill Lee for a few minutes, give him a starting point, and let him hold forth.
Kinda like what happened at the Red Sox Hall of Fame induction ceremony a few days ago. I had read Lee's
Little Red (Sox) Book a few years ago, but I had forgotten about how much Lee does not give a crap about what anyone thinks about him: he's here to speak his mind and be clever, all at the same time. Does Lee blog at all? Because if not, he really should.
A few life lessons from The Spaceman:
- Winning is everything. No, really.
- When marrying Canadians, make sure the first one is cold before moving on to the second one.
- The Boston media gets the New York media's sloppy seconds.
- We should all be grateful to star players for gracing us with their presence, no matter what the result.
After watching this video, my friend Fred had a good point: Lee's vitriol about Manny may be a bit unfounded, but it's a comment on the long-held Red Sox tradition of crapping on star players when they leave town. After doing a quick mental tally, I can only think of two stars who escaped the pariah treatment when they left the Sox: Williams (he got while playing, instead) and Yaz, who both left because they retired. But Fisk, Lee, Pedro, Damon, Nomar, Manny...they either suffered the Vader force choke from management or the rabid dog attack of the fan base on their way out. It's not a particularly pleasant legacy to contemplate.